The California State University Board of Trustees met the week before spring break to discuss a prospective clean and renewable energy policy. This is a highly relevant issue in the San Fernando Valley and on the CSUN campus, which is constantly surrounded by pollution and smog. Pollution from car emissions and the burning of fossil fuels like oil and coal are major contributing factors to bad air quality here. Contributing to the problem, the energy that CSUN currently purchases comes from dirty fossil fuels. Solar is an excellent clean alternative to the dirty energy we purchase now.

A strong clean energy policy throughout the CSU system is an opportunity to combat this problem on a large scale. Solar can also save CSU money by installing it onsite. This is a great opportunity to alleviate budget constraints and express concern about the community’s health.

Many universities (including CSU East Bay and Sonoma State), and even whole cities (San Francisco and San Diego), have already taken the initiative to purchase clean energy. Mandating this for the entire CSU system as the UCs have done is a definite solution. So far, Chancellor Reed has been slow to act on such obvious solutions, while our community’s health and air quality are at stake. The CSU Board of Trustees needs to prioritize clean energy.

We are calling on Chancellor Reed to quit stalling the development of a clean energy policy for the CSU system, and to create a strong clean energy policy by Summer 2005. The world is moving forward on clean energy, and we want to make sure CSUN and the other CSUs are not being left in the dust.

Stefanie Gilinsky,

Genetic counseling

graduate student